Category Archives: Call Center

How to get more clients for your call center

May 5, 2011 by 123outsource
Categories: Call Center, Popular Posts | Tagged , , , , , | 21 Comments

Getting more clients for your call center part 1
 
Call centers are everywhere!
There are many call centers throughout the world.  The United States and Canada are filled with them.  The Philippines is the most popular outsourcing location for call centers, while Kenya and South Africa offer a good command of British English and are in the same time zone as Europeans.  But… not all call centers are created equal.  Many new companies want more clients, but they don’t know where to start.
 
It’s about relationships!
BPO Companies typically get business because they have the right contacts. No contacts; No contracts; But, how do you get connections when you don’t know anyone? A call center might know a potential client, or could be referred to a client from someone who knows them.  Often, they will know other people in the business, who give them their overflow or take a commission on BPO business sent their way.  But, what if you are sitting in a building in Navi Mumbai, or Cebu, and you see others succeeding in the call center business when your phone is not ringing with interested prospective clients?
 
How do you get to know people when you don’t know anyone?
We all start out with empty Rolodexes in this life unless we are born into the right family.
But, how many of us are born into a well connected family?  I’m from America which is a meritocracy. Your success is still based heavily on “who you know”, but we generally are not born with good connections like the upper class British or Indian families might have.  We make it based on merit and hustling — otherwise we don’t make it.  Some of us are talented, while others are average but work harder than our competitors.  In America, many of my friends were from affluent families, but didn’t have the drive or dedication to achieve, and they are working for minimum wage in many cases.  By the same token, many people who were raised in slums are now prospering.  So, get out there and hustle and get to know people. You can meet prospects through cold calling, Linked In, networking meetings, or through existing contacts.
 
Getting to know people
If you want to drum up BPO business, you have to contact companies who might be able to use your service, as well as contacting competitors. Competitors might be able to refer you jobs that they don’t want or don’t have time for. They might charge a commission for offering you work. You could get to know agents and brokers as well, but be careful as many of them charge up front and don’t deliver! You can get listed on outsourcing directories and have a broad social media presence as well. In terms of contacting prospective clients, who do you call, when, and where? Pounding the payment is on my perpetual to do list — my company contacts 400 new companies per month every month, on schedule at the beginning of the month whether we need new clients or not, just to keep the momentum going.
 
Email
Email is a wonderful tool, and it has its place in society. It’s a very practical way to contact people who already know you and are happy (smiley face or not) to hear from you.  However, if you send emails to strangers that are trying to sell them something, you will get ignored.  If you use email to contact people, you might get a 0-1% return rate if you offer them some sort of free trial period. If it is just an introduction to your company, you will be ignored 9999 out of 10,000 emails which makes the whole process futile. Writing to a specific contact person and perceptively addressing their unique needs increases the chance of you getting noticed 100 fold!
 
Cold Calling
Calling companies is a royal pain in the neck. It’s often like pulling teeth to reach the decision maker, and each phone call can carve 10 minutes out of your day only to be put on hold and then ultimately rejected.  Phone calls are tedious, so plan on having someone who is patient and dedicated to manning this essential lifeline. On a brighter note, a dedicated caller can realistically reach up to 30 decision makers on a busy day of cold calling.
 
Meeting people’s needs
The mentality that separates a salesman from a pest is their ability to anticipate their prospective client’s needs.  If you call someone trying to force your service down their unwilling throat, you will have wasted your call.  Even if they need your service, they won’t like your style.  If you are polite, make nice conversation, and ask them about their needs, you will get your foot in the door.  My experience has shown that a female with a nice voice, an even nicer personality, and a good technical understanding of call center work will excel at this type of cold-calling.  Gentleness and suave are the keys that open the doors. On the other hand, my personal experience running my own call operations is that a man with a very feminine voice is just as effective as a girl.  My best caller was a guy with a folksy high voice, and everyone liked “her”.  I hired him to offer free listings on one of my directories, and he got seven listings per hour, while the other male caller averaged only four! Of course — everybody thought that he was a she!!!
 
Smoothness and getting to know people
People hire other people they know. Its not about what BPO company you work for, or even what company they work for.  If a person at a particular company likes a person at another company and gets to know them, you establish trust. Trust = Sales or at least has the potential to lead to sales.  People entrust their money to people they like and trust. If your salesgirl cannot only sell, but makes great chit-chat with the decision makers, they will develop a type of relationship with your company.  In five minutes, you went from a non-relationship, to having a warm and fuzzy relationship. You are no longer doing a cold-sell now. You are working in a warm market.  Your sales girl melted the proverbial ice!!! One sales lady conveys such charm, that clients who have never laid eyes on her are regularly sending her flowers. When you interview your salesgirl, ask how many flowers her clients sent her on her last job. There’s your clue as to how successful she will be!
 
Free samples
Many people are stingy and selfish and don’t want to give away even a minute of their time for free. But, if you are starting out, you have to establish a reputation. If nobody knows you, then the only fast way to GET people to know you is to offer a few hours of work at either no cost, or at a reduced cost if the person will commit to a contract once they are satisfied.  If you have a star employee who will impress your potential clients, you will gain many others from offering free work. Not all of them will hire you. But, always remember that business is about relationships, ideally long term ones. If you sacrificed a few hours of a star employee’s time, but got a client who stuck with you for twenty years and referred you to ten other companies who used you, do you feel that your sacrifice was worth it? You give away a penny, and get a million in return. I like that exchange very much.

Have a professional web site
People judge a book by its cover and a web site by its professionalism. A professional web site that clearly states all of your specialties and contact information will attract business, especially if it is easy to find on Google. Please see our article about having a professional web site for your business.

Pay-Per-Click
An astute web marketer will be an expert at using pay-per-click programs. Google’s adwords is the most effective in this category. Pick the keywords and keyword variations that are well targeted to your business and geographical terms mixed with professional terms, i.e. “Bangalore Web Design”. Twitter, Facebook, and Linked-In also have PPC programs that can help you grow your social media presence quickly and effectively providing that you have popular content. Going to a $100 party wearing a $3 shirt is the equivalent of spending hundreds promoting poorly written blogs or web pages. Write good content and promote it using PPC. However, you should track your results and terminate promotions that don’t yield positive results. Using PPC involves a lot of trial and error, so try many approaches and keep your eyes open. Please read our article on Pay-Per-Click promotion of call centers.

Summary
Hire a nice girl who makes smooth conversation, knows her technical stuff, and can anticipate her prospective client’s needs.  Get to know companies and offer them a certain amount of free work if you think they are serious. That way, they will be confident about working with you in the future since they had a good experience with your company.  On the other hand, if you hire the worst staff, your free sample will just be a waste, because nobody wants to work with a rotten bunch of employees!!

Stay tuned for part 2 of getting call center work.  You will see a completely different point of view on marketing in that blog entry.

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You might also like:

How to get more clients for your call center (compilation)
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2015/08/20/how-to-get-more-clients-for-your-bpo-or-call-center-compilation/

How to get clients for call center — contracts!
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/04/05/how-to-get-clients-for-call-centers-contracts/

Marketing your BPO from A to Z
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2016/05/22/marketing-your-bpo-outsourcing-firm-from-a-to-z/

How to find clients for call centers — good salespeople
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/04/08/how-to-find-clients-for-call-centers-good-salespeople/

How to get more clients for your call center — get an agent!
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/09/14/how-to-get-more-clients-for-your-call-center-get-an-agent/

How to get more clients for your call center using Pay-Per-Click
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/08/01/how-to-gain-clients-for-your-call-center-pay-per-click/

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Tweets:
(a) When it comes to business, it is about who you know.
How well do you know yourself?
(b) In business it is about who you know. How well do you hustle to get to know new people?
(c) In business, it is not who you know — it is who knows you and thinks highly of you.
(d) Get to know prospective clients by calling them.
Interact with existing clients by emailing them.
(e) Emailing prospective clients has a really low response rate. Ask your Nigerian uncle. Try cold-calling prospects.

(f) Hire the right girl to talk to decision makers & they will develop a warm & fuzzy relationship w/your company.
(g) 1 sales lady conveys such charm: clients who’ve never seen her regularly send her flowers.
(h) When u interview a salesgirl, ask how many flowers her clients sent her on her last job. There’s your clue as to how successful she will be!
(i) The best things in life are free. Give a free sample to a prospect, do great work, and win a client!

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Call Center Manila News

April 6, 2011 by 123outsource
Categories: Call Center, Philippines, Popular Posts | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

To see the article:
10 ways to gain clients for your call center — click below
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2014/07/21/10-ways-to-get-more-clients-for-your-call-center/

Call Center Manila News
 
Manila Call Centers are expected to grow in total revenues due to grow due to increased internal demand as well as increased outsourcing revenues.  Additionally, Indian companies are now outsourcing jobs to Filipino call centers.  The continued recovery of the global economy will also help to fuel growth.  According to abscbn news, Filipino call centers could have total revenues in excess of over 7.38 billion dollars which seems like an optimistic figure considering that total revenues were less than six billion this year.
 
CCAP’s president claims that 350,000 currently work at Filipino call centers, many of which are Manila call centers.  India only has 330,000, and the Philippines has taken the lead over india in call center revenues this year.
 
Additionally, Manila call center employees are reported to be having less regular mealtimes, and indulging in an excess of caffeine, fast food, and alcohol.  A study indicatd that Filipino call center employees skip many meals.  40% skip breakfast (the most important meal of the day), 20% skip lunch, and 16% skip dinner.  The most popular foods included fried chicken, chips, fries, and burgers in that order for Filipino BPO workers.  Coffee consumption was 2.3 cups per day compared to the national average off 1.7 cups.  Filipino BPO employees also prefered drinking to partying or other leisure activities.  It looks like the lifestyle of a Manila call center staff member needs to be more health conscious and less stressful.  Maybe a walk in the park would be good!

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Cebu Call Centers in the News

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India & China compete for outsourcing revenues

Casual day at a call center in India!

March 31, 2011 by 123outsource
Categories: Call Center, Humor | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Casual Day in an Indian Call Center
 
This is my sense of humor I guess.  My favorite show is Outsourced which takes a deeper look at the many issues effecting the lives of call center workers in India as well as Americans living in India. I relate to this because I have spent many months in India and have gone through all of the cultural issues, dyssentary, monsoons, etc.
 
My skit idea is that the manager of an Indian call center named John wants his employees to become more comfortable with the American culture, so he calls America and asks his manager what to do.  The senior manager, Chuck in California says that they should do things like Americans do.  Have an office party once in a while, have casual Friday, have personal days, and do as many things as they can like people do in America.
 
So, John decides to have casual Friday.  I am thinking of Rajiv Gidwani from Outsourced reluctantly saying, “Okay workers, listen up… today we will be having casual Friday, I personally don’t like the idea, but I was talked into it by our senior manager”. The real life Rajiv hates anything casual and loves the corporate power image with suits and formality.  So, John tells the workers, that they can dress how they like:  in jeans or casual clothing, and that they can even bring their animals to work, since thats what many companies in California allow!  In California, in some of the film industry offices, people will bring dogs to work for example. 
 
Finally, casual Friday comes after a long 96 hours of waiting!
Anita brings her Chihuahua.  Naren brings his pet rat.  Girish brings a baby cat.  Manish brings a peacock.  Sanjiv brings a monkey. Santosh brings a cow.  And Nuntheny brings the baby elephant from aunty’s temple down the street.  John says, I’m so happy that you are adapting to our American ways.  It makes  much more relaxing atmosphere when you bring your pets, doesn’t it?  The workers agree. 
 
But, John becomes disturbed at the type of animals that were brought in.  They don’t seem like “pets”. 
John: Anita, I love your little dog, he is so cute…., but Naren.. a rat?  A rat is not a pet.
Naren: For me its  a pet.  We have so many of them in India and they are so cute with their little beady eyes.
John: A peacock?  Don’t those belong outside?  Don’t they make this loud hooping sound any time there is noise?
Manish:  Oh, he is our family pet, and after all, today is casual Friday, so we must bring our pets.  I love Sally my peacock.  Sally… don’t listen to what John has to say, he doesn’t understand you!
John: Sanjiv, I love your monkey, but monkeys are mischevious animals. 
Sanjiv:  No, not my monkey, he is wonderful. He never misbehaves.  By the way John?  That banana on your desk?  Its not going to last long, better put it in a drawer.
John: Nuntheny, I love your mini elephant.  He is so….
Nuntheny: He? He… is NOT a he… its a She
John:  Oh, I’m sorry. 
Nuntheny:  You should be!  How would you like it if people mistook you for a lady?   There there Laxmi, John didn’t really mean what he said. You’re a real lady… here…have a banana… Good girl.
John:  Hmmm, this attempt at learning American culture is not working out as I expected. I was thinking more along the lines of dogs and maybe a cat here or there.  Perhaps a hampster.
Nuntheny:  Well, in India we have different types of pets.
John:  Anyway, break is over its time for work.
—— TRUMPET sound….  MOOOOOO….  woof ..woof…woof.  hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo…

John calling Chuck:  Chuck… these Americanization ideas like casual Friday? 
Chuck:  How is it going?  I love casual Friday
John:  It’s not working as planned.  When they are making calls, they can’t hear the customers with all the trumpeting sounds of the elephant, the moo sounds, and the peacock starts hooting every time there is a sudden sound.
Chuck:  Oh my god, it sounds like a zoo!
John:  Yes, thats the word I was looking for. 
Chuck:  Hmmm.  Lets change the plan a bit. We’ll have Sari Thursdays and Jeans Fridays.  That way we can have the best of both cultures without all of the sound effects.
John:  Yes Chuck  (trumpet sound of elephant), I am hearing you (bark bark)… trying to hear you…I’m not sure how good I would look in a sari though. Thats my only concern.
Chuck: Don’t worry John, ONE SIZE FITS ALL!!!!

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A class system in call centers like Coach vs. Business Class

October 12, 2010 by 123outsource
Categories: Call Center | Leave a comment

Thank you and welcome to Kuala Call Center — where our lines are always friendly. Do you have a reservation for tonight? Oh yes, I see you have a ticket for coach. No problem, just follow me please…

If you book a ticket on an airline, there are different classes where you can sit. Yes, this is “classist” but on public buses there is only one class — low class. In many cities, middle and upper class people refuse to take the bus. In India you will be treated like a sardine if you dare take the bus which is why those with a choice do not! But, what types of classes would a call center have?

You could have economy class where you get the newer and less trained call center agents. Then, there would be business class where you get agents who have a few years of experience and are up to a particular level. But, what about executive class? Honestly, if I were a busy executive and needed help with my calls, I would want the finest call center agents that money could buy — preferably with a window seat and a glass of wine.

One of the failings of the call center industry is that there are no formal gradations for the difference in quality for call center agents. Imagine how the industry would be completely transformed if some of the big companies would get together and introduce definitive standards. What if they created seven distinct levels for call center agents and then had standardized additional commentary such as how good they are at particular technical tasks or at particular foreign languages or accents? That way you wouldn’t need to interview a particular company’s workers. You would know based on their credentials how good they are.

Perhaps it would be better if an outside agency did training, testing and evaluation for agents. The agents could all get tested every quarter to see what their improvement was like. Their salaries would depend on their test results, and you can bet that they would take it all very seriously.

In the mean time, I need to get used to this tiny seat in coach. Thankfully there is no gigantic fat guy sitting next to me in the next seat over. Fight attendant? I’ll have a Pepsi please…

Does it make you paranoid if your calls are being monitored?

September 30, 2010 by 123outsource
Categories: Call Center | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Some BPO call center workers feel paranoid when their calls are being monitored. It is a fact of life in the call center industry that your higher ups will listen in on a regular basis. Some do this in order to find fault with you while others use it to coach you into being a better worker. It is a proven fact that a call center agent will act differently if they think they are being listened to.

It is also a proven fact that bad call centers typically have no system for monitoring calls. Good call centers monitor lots of calls and give feedback right away. If you are doing something wrong, it is better to find out fast so you can correct the behavior right away! Additionally, your performance can be easily measured on a regular basis if management is listening in.

It is normal to be paranoid, but don’t. Being listened to is important for the quality of your work. Someone is always listening to you in any case when you are on the phone. And even if you are alone, God is listening to you, or at least might be if he is not having his lunch break in heaven!

India Call Center Developments

September 29, 2010 by 123outsource
Categories: Call Center, India | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Indian Call Center developments
 
In previous blogs we mentioned that the Philippines was neck and neck with India for call center revenues, but I read an article posted on Dec 6th 2010 in the Global Nation Inquirer stating that the Philippines has become the call center capital of the world.  I saw this coming.  Filipino call center employees get statistically more done per hour than in India and have a better command of American English as well as a good level of cultural affinity with the U.S.  Even some Indian companies set up call centers in the Philippines to benefit from their cultural links to the West.
 
My personal feeling is that India excels at intelligent tasks, and that cultural skills are just a matter of learning.  India has no shortage of people who can learn anything.  With a population of 1.1 billion, there will be many who can master every type of skill known to mankind, even if they don’t have a head start.  Indian education emphasizes math and science, and when Indian kids come to America to go to college, they are years ahead of the Americans.  Its just a question of emphasis.  Culture is easier to master than trigonometry, its just a matter of learning it.  Accents can be learned and mastered too, at least to the point of being acceptable for business use.
 
If an Indian call center employee has some Indian accent, that is okay, just as long as they are clear, helpful, and know all of our American faux pas.  But, many could master even regional accents through a good  educational program.  Some businesses put an emphasis on training and mastery while others accept mediocracy.  With the types of prices Indian call centers are charging these days, there is no room for second rate service.  Prices have skyrocketed recently, so quality of service, not price competition need to be the primary focus.
 
Tata Consultancy Service is a multi-billion dollar Indian company famous for cars, dams, and other services.  They have just opened a BPO operation in Manila instead of in their motherland.  It is a sad state of affairs when Indians are outsourcing their tasks outside of India.  The tide has shifted.  Overall outsourcing revenues are still by far the highest in India, but China is catching up fast, and the Philippines with its far smaller overall market share is also gaining… at least in the call center industry.
 
To end this short blog with a joke.  Did you hear about the new car models from 2005?
There was the Ford Hurricane and the Tata Tsunami.

Four likely effects of using a false name!

September 27, 2010 by 123outsource
Categories: Call Center | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Indians are notorious for using false names at call centers. I even met a few very well spoken gentlemen in the .net programming business who used Anglo names. They didn’t want to tell me what their real name was.

But, what are the effects of using a false name?

(1) You will lose credibility. There are many people out there who will assume that if you misrepresent your name, you will lie about other things as well. I have learned that this is unfortunately true. The sad thing is that so many people in India lie about their names and lie about everything else as well. If you ruin your credibility, that is for life — at least with that particular client who you ruined it with. Unfortunately, you undermine the credibility of others who are associated with you as well when you lie. People will judge others from your country because of your fabrication!

(2) People might be more comfortable with your name. Many in America cannot pronounce multi-syllabic Indian names. Worse yet, they might not like some of the names. God forbid your name is Ousama or Hussein. Muslims typically have names like this! Many westerners might like the fact that you have a name like David which they can pronounce!

(3) You might gain a sense of freedom having a new name. You are no longer Chakrapani Balasubramanium. You are now, Rick Smith, an aspiring American businessman, who for some reason ended up in an Indian Call Center! You might feel a sense of liberation by being freed from the oppressive and narrow-minded restrictions of Indian culture! You might even start eating hamburgers and dating girls with no thought of marriage — how American!

(4) You might also feel a sense of alienation. If you feel close to your culture, and distant from Western culture, you might not like being Rick Smith. You might say, “I don’t feel like a Rick Smith.” Honestly, it is hard to feel close to a culture unless you socialize in it. And even if you socialize in that culture, if they are mean, discriminate against you, or are just plain boring, you will not identify with them in the long run.

So, if you are not sure about having an alias name, try it out for a week or month, and see how it goes. Have your mom call you by that name, your sisters, brothers, friends, enemies, and so on. Try it out, Rick!

Tweets:
(1) What are the effects of using a false name in business besides losing credibility?
(2) If you misrepresent your name, will you lie about other things too?

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Looking for Call Center Companies Online Is Not Easy

September 23, 2010 by 123outsource
Categories: Call Center | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The need for good directories is no joke. I run several online directories. I see how other directories often have outdated information, dead links, and incomplete information. It is hard to have all of your listings be dynamic, but at least the ones near the top of the list should have some redeeming features. At any rate, to boost the level of content on my directories, I venture out into the world of google to see if I can find new companies in the categories that I cover. For the last few days, I hae been trying to find call centers (call centres) in various Latin American countries. I tried to find BPO, KPO, LPO, Medical Transcription, and other types of outsourcing companies too. What I found, was not what I was expecting.

The search results on google seem to focus on news, blogs, job offerings, and just about everything EXCEPT what I was looking for. I wanted to find sites for companies who actually wanted to provide services. The next sad reality I learned was that the companies that I did find, were often huge international companies that were not exclusive to the country I was looking for. These companies typically specialized in … well … just about everything in the outsourcing world. It was not uncommon to see a MNC have thirty or so specialties ranging from call center, to business analysis, data conversion, medical transcription, and much more! The next type of information I found was company web sites that made it impossible to find contact information for them. It is a cultural trait in Latin America to make it a challenge to contact them. It’s more fun to make your prospective clients have a hard time reaching you. To me it’s madness, but in Eastern Europe, and much of Latin America, it is a business strategy to effectively hide from your clients so they have no way of knowing where you are or how to reach you. Site’s typically have no email address, no phone number, and an impersonal contact form. Contact forms are actually helpful. Clients have a tendency to ramble, and beat around the bush instead of telling you what you need to know to help them. Contact forms herd them in a channel just like you would herd cattle, hence forcing them to tell you all of the pertinent information you need to know. On 123outsource.net, the email field is a required field, so I can not create a listing for someone without an email. So, I have to guess the email. I’ll guess info@nameofsite.com for example. I hope I’m correct. A directory that doesn’t list email addresses is a sad state of affairs. The saddest thing I saw was a brand new contact center in Panama who’s contact us page said, “coming soon”. I guess they were not so serious about doing business. Everywhere I looked there was my blog, other people’s blogs, and other “less-than-helpful” information. I kept reading that call centers were sprouting up like weeds in central america, but try finding them on google. They seem to not exist. Once in a while, one of them will contact us to get listed, but I think we already have all of the good ones!

Having a pronouncable name rather than a fake name

September 23, 2010 by admin
Categories: Call Center | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Having a name people can pronounce rather than a fake American name.

If you work at an Indian Call Centre, it might make better sense to have an Indian name which Americans can pronounce, rather than trying to pass yourself off as “Mike from St. Louis”.  If your name is RamaKrishna Subrahanium, it might be hard for Westerners to pronounce your name. But, if you claim to be “Mike from St. Louis”, then people will know you are a fake.  So, what about names like Rakesh, Hari, Ravi, Mahesh, Kumar, Sujata, Angeli, and other easy to pronounce names.  For folks in middle-America, it might be hard for them to pronounce these names, but they would get the hang of it after a while. You need to make Americans feel comfortable with you to acquire more call center business.

I saw a comedy about American call centers.  The call centers researchers had learned that customers are happier if they can talk to the same rep each time they call. So, the call center had all their representatives have the same name. Every single guy there was named John, and each girl was Cindy.  There were 100 Johns and 106 Cindy’s. This is a very comical, fake, and ineffective way to please your clients, however, for Indians there is a benefit.

Americans will never be able to pronounce multi-sylabic South Indian names like Tiravanantapuram (a city in Kerala).  Even Indians call this T-vandrum for short. But, if Americans keep hearing names like Angeli (NO, not Angela, but Angeli), Anita, and Kumar, they will get used to it.  After all, after our unfortunate war with the butcher of Bagdad, we can all pronounce the word, “Hussein”.  And after 911, we can all pronounce the name, “Oussama” (which varies in spelling, but is pronounced the same way regardless).  So, since we heard the word Oussama 1000+ times on the news and can now say it, then if all call center workers in India adopt exactly 10 easy to pronounce Indian names like Krishna, Sujata, and Ravi — then in another five or ten years, every American (Even people in the midwest) will be able to pronounce these names properly! In fact, we might even start naming OUR kids Krishna and Ravi.

If Indians master the art of being the best call center staff in the world — and keep their names — and are honest about being in Navi-Mumbai or Noida; then after a few years, it will be Americans who will be out of work unless they change THEIR name to Ravi, and pretend to be located in Secundrabad. If people think that the ONLY good call center workers are in India, we will all have to pretend to be in India.

Tamilians on this TV commercial get the sale!

September 23, 2010 by admin
Categories: Call Center | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Tamilians on this TV commercial get the sale where call centers fail!

Americans are so resistant to getting calls from Indian call centers, that managers at these call centers often feel that the problem is that Americans don’t like Indians.  This is simply not true!  Americans are a bit squeemish at first if you are from a culture that they are not used to, but if you are charming and perhaps funny, you can easily break through the cultural barrier.  The best thing about America is that cultural borders ARE crossable, and sometimes can be crossed faster than you think if you have the right approach.

There was a recent commercial on TV for cell phones. There were two Tamilian guys who were very funny, and likeable.  An overweight goofy looking freckled American boy named Billy steps up and gets roped by a noose around his leg that hoisted him up in to the air upside down.  One of the Indian guys said, “Silly Billy, you fell in to the contraPT”.  Billy got trapped by a contract that was more like a “contrap”.  This commercial was popular all around the United States.

North Indian call centers and airline workers think that they need to be as fair skinned as Europeans, and have perfectly neutral accents, and discard anything Indian about themselves to do well in the modern economy.  The irony is that these particular dark skinned Tamilians with very Thick, but understandable accents in the commercial became instant hits with Americans, while call center workers who pretend their name is Mike and pretend they are located in New York are NOT very popular with Americans.

The truth is that Americans normally feel threatened by people from the Middle East and South Asia who wear very foreign clothing, and who are perhaps dark, veiled, or have strong accents.  HOWEVER, Americans usually make an exception for Indians, since we perceive Indians as being GENTLE and INTELLIGENT when we meet them in person.

My point is that call center workers need to work harder at being PERSONABLE, instead of working hard to erase their Indian-ness. Americans normally like Indians who are personable — so there is no need to pretend not to be Indian.  Additionally, no matter how hard you pretend not to be Indian, you will still sound foreign to us unless you have been socializing exclusively with Americans for two decades.

I met one North Indian girl who was working on an airline in India. She was so fair, that she could almost pass as a European.  But, her attitude was terrible. She PRETENDED not to know what masala chai was.  Pretending that you are ignorant about Indian culture does not erase the fact that you are an Indian — it only proves that you are confused, and too snobby to accept the culture you were born into.

All you have to do is speak clearly, be helpful, and likeable!  Instead of being fake, focus on your interaction skills, and the rest becomes secondary!

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What is it really like inside an Indian Call Center?

September 22, 2010 by 123outsource
Categories: Call Center, Semi-Popular | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

What is it really like inside an Indian Call Center?

During my trips to India, I visited many outsourcing operations. I visited programming houses, call centers, medical transcription companies, and more.

Typically, Indian outsourcing companies will have a bunch of people crammed into very small spaces with small desks. But, the call centers I saw were operating on a larger scale. The programming houses typically had 5-50 people present, while the call centers occupied entire floors of buildings and had room for hundreds of employees.

A Call Center in Mumbai
I was just doing my homework. I was staying at an ashram in Navi Mumbai. I wanted to see a real Indian Call Center. I had a call project to do. 2000 calls. To big for me to do, but too small for them to do. I got off the train in Belapur, or one of the stops near there. It was in 2007 and I don’t remember all of the details. I found the building. Finding anything in India is a miracle and reaffirms my belief in a supreme power. I’m not sure if it was Krishna, Vishnu, or God himself that helped me find this huge building, but its location right next to the train track made it easier. So, I went around this monstrosity of a building, and up the stairs. I had to ask multiple people for help finding the back entrance. Then, I was confronted with a bored looking security guard. He asked a few questions and then let me in to the next room. The manager was not there, but I met a guy in his mid-twenties who started asking me about the “strength” of my company. I told him that my company was not very strong because it didn’t go to the gym, but that he could feel my biceps to test me personally for strength. In America, companies don’t have strength, they have number of employees, and yearly revenues instead — a different use of language! I never made it into their high-security call center to see more.

A Call Center in Bangalore
I arranged an interview with the sales manager of a call center in Bangalore. We talked for a while, and he tried to get me to sign a very constrictive contract. My gut feeling was that signing my life away would not be advantageous. So, I didn’t! I met some of the staff there. There was a nice lady who was a mother working part-time.

She spoke too quietly. I didn’t think she would be a good match for my impatient clients who need to be able to hear what you are saying. But, there were rows and rows of cubicles at this nice office that was situated on a main artery in a prosperous part of Northern Bangalore. So, many people were there — it seemed endless. There was “motorcycle guy” who seemed very Americanized and was a smooth talker. He put on his flashy red and black leather jacket because his shift was over. There were some fast talking ladies who were on a project for a large corporation. There was a floor manager who was walking around seeing if everyone was doing their job. And then there was the shrewd looking salesman who wanted to twist my arm into an undesirable contract — well, undesirable for me, but very desirable for him!

A Call Center in Chennai
My favorite call center so far was a Call Center in Chennai. I met the manager who was very nice. He told me about all of the flexible options that I could have. Fluidity is high on my list of desirable attributes. I could rent a spot by the month and work there myself or hire one of his workers by the month. I got to choose who I liked, and it was all very reasonable sounding.

A Call Center in Noida or Delhi
I haven’t visited there yet. But, I will keep you informed if I ever go to a call center in Delhi. Noida is the Call Center capital of India just as Manila or Makati City is the call center capital of the Philippines (or perhaps the world). If your computer breaks, chances are you will be talking to someone named, “John Smith” who has a fake British accent who is in Noida — but, who can’t disclose his actual location.

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http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/10/12/how-to-get-clients-for-your-call-center-have-your-sales-staff-work-american-hours/

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http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/10/05/how-to-get-more-business-for-your-call-center-better-training/

How to acquire clients for your call center: long term goals!

September 17, 2010 by 123outsource
Categories: Call Center | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Any motivational speaker will talk about long term goals. It is common knowledge that if you write your long terms down, you are 41 times as likely to reach your goal. I made up that number, but statistically, there is documentation that proves that you are much much much more likely to achieve your goal if you write your goals down. If you strive daily to attain a goal, that helps too. If you change your goals daily, that is a deal breaker in the goal game.

But, what are your goals? What I have learned is that call center professionals know their game, and know what to do. They have been in the call center game for years, and keep doing what they are doing and might keep growing. Sometimes they might move their operation from Bangalore to Noida to save on costs. Or they might abandon India and move operations to Cebu in the Philippines. Perhaps they might try a place with high unemployment like Assam in the Northeast Corner of India. But, the game is the same. Find good clients, find good workers, have a good facility, put it all together and make it work.

Young Indians who want to start call centers typically do not have the business skills to pull off having a full fledged call center. They might have managerial experience at a call center (or not), but it takes a lot more than that to have a real call center. To those guys I suggest starting small, and getting your experience while small so you don’t lose any large sum of money or ruin your reputation too much.

But, what should your long term goals be in a call center? To have a 100-seater overnight? That is insanity, not a goal. How about to think small and have a 20-seater? That is still small. You have to choose your workers, find contracts, train people, monitor people. It is a lot of work unless you have a manager. Plus, how do you even select a good manager if you have no experience owning a business? It is not that easy. That is why you start small.

If I were mentoring you — and I sort of am — many young Indians read my blog for inspiration, and I hope they get lots of inspiration without feeling too discouraged by me — I would give you this long term goal chopped up into smaller goals.

(1) Start your business in a tiny office or at home. Get top notch equipment so that people can hear you properly.
(2) Acquire small clients. They are easier to get, and easier to keep if you treat them right. Your goal should be to see if you can RETAIN your clients for a long time and get referrals from them. If you give them really good service at a reasonable price you might achieve this goal.
(3) Only hire a few people. Train them well, and keep an eye on them. If you are not experienced, you will not know how to train others. If you are so busy you can not see straight, you won’t have time to train others. To keep clients, you need good service, and there is no good service without well manicured employees.
(4) Once you have been maintaining a very stable client base, and have retrained your employees, then it is time to expand. Slowly. Remember, that having new clients is more work. The new ones are uncertain and need more time negotiating deals. Existing clients might need a little more or a little less at certain times, but they are more stable. Hiring new workers is also time consuming. You have to interview many to find one acceptable worker, and then you have to train them and watch them to make sure they are reliable. If your people quit often, you have to repeat this process which gets in the way of what your real business is — doing call center work for your clients.

Your philosophical long term goal should not be about money. Money comes on it’s own (or it doesn’t). Focus on finding out what your clients want (or think they want) and giving that to them as masterfully as you can. If you get a reputation of taking care of people better than anyone else, then your business will grow on its own. You might not even need to advertise. I have heard stories of people with huge businesses who never spent a penny on advertising in your life. Expecting not to need to advertise is not realistic, but keep the thought of its possibility alive. Focus on helping others and then they will help you with money. The world works like this.

Don’t think big… think small, and grow as fast as the forces of nature let you grow.
You can become a millionaire — just don’t try to do it overnight. let it happen naturally over time as you provide great value to the universe!!!